Utterby Halt was a

railway halt A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a Rail transport, railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passenger train, passengers, freight rail transport, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one r ...

on the East Lincolnshire Railway which served the village of

Utterby Utterby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A16 road, south from Grimsby and north from Louth. Utterby railway station (or Utterby Halt), on the line between Grimsby and ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

between 1905 and 1961. The station, which opened as part of a new motor train service between and , is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a ganger killed on the level crossing in 1953. The line through Utterby remained open for freight until December 1980.

History

The station was opened on 11 December 1905 to coincide with the introduction of a motor train service by the Great Northern Railway. It consisted of two low parallel halt platforms to the south of the

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

over Pear Tree Lane; lamps were provided on both platforms, but only the down platform had a waiting shelter for passengers: a small wooden hut equipped with a heating stove. A crossing keeper's cottage lay to the north of the crossing on the down side which was of standard East Lincolnshire Railway design similar to that seen at , , and , all of which pre-dated the opening of the respective halts. Passenger services called at the station upon request only. The station closed on 11 September 1961, the same day as Fotherby Halt to the south which had also opened on the same day as part of the rail motor service. The site of the halt is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of John Edward Lancaster, a local length ganger, who was fatally struck on the adjacent level crossing in dense fog by an oncoming Grimsby-Louth freight working in January 1953.

Present day

The halt was demolished by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

long before final closure of the line in December 1980 and little remains of it today. The crossing keeper's cottage survives in good condition as a private residence. Ludborough's old down distant signal post stands over the trackbed to the south towards Louth. On 28 September 1991, the

Lincolnshire Wolds Railway The Lincolnshire Wolds Railway (LWR) is a heritage railway based at Ludborough station, near Louth, Lincolnshire, England and the only standard gauge steam railway in Lincolnshire open to the public. The line is part of the original Great North ...

obtained a

Light Railway Order The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. History Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be ob ...

authorising the reinstatement of the East Lincolnshire Railway between and the former Keddington Road level crossing near

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town *Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * County ...

, which would include the line through Utterby.

Future

The Lincolnshire Wolds railway is currently extending towards Utterby Halt. The extension will be opened as soon as time and money permit. A run round loop operated by a two lever ground frame will eventually be installed here and will form the southern end of the railway for some time. However it will be some time before the level crossing will be re-instated. It is also very unlikely that a Halt will be built here as in BR days it never justified its own existence. The crossing again like Grainsby halt will probably end up being automatically worked. The old signal post will eventually be removed and restored for future use elsewhere on the railway. Eventually once the railway reaches Louth, a passing loop might be installed here to allow two train working. This would enable one train to pass another and allow greater scope for train running.

References

Sources

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